Ask the Reader: What Words Inspire You? (winner goes on the new LYL shirt & gets a free one!)

We’re creating new LYL shirts – and I want you to design them!

Fun news today! We just released a new comment system on LYL that I think is going to make it a lot more engaging for our community to interact with each other, share ideas and join in on discussions. And to celebrate that, we’re launching a comment contest like we’ve never done…

And the winning comment will end up as the design of our next Live Your Legend shirt!

Here’s all you have to do to participate:

Leave your favorite short inspirational quote, saying or phrase as a comment. It should relate to the LYL movement of finding and doing work you love, surrounding yourself with the people who make it possible and making your difference in the world – the more creative, the better! You’re welcome to leave up to three separate sayings, but be sure you leave them as separate comments. Since these are going on a shirt, try to keep them under 10 words, and ideally only 2-5 words.

Vote on at least two other commentsthat resonate with you (and leave a comment on at least one of them). Your comment will not count unless you vote on other comments. Vote by clicking the up arrow at bottom left of each comment that looks like this “^”. Please be kind and don’t use the down arrow – no sense in making others feel badly.

The comment with the most votes from all of you wins – and will be designed onto the next run of LYL shirts in the coming weeks!

If you’re the winner, you get a free shirt! In fact, you’ll get two free shirts. 🙂

Even if you don’t win, your inspiring saying might still be used on future shirts or posts, so give this your best effort!

Why am I doing this?

Because more than anything, Live Your Legend is a community. Far and away the biggest factor that separates LYL from so many other sites on the web is, well… YOU. You are the LYL Family, Movement & Revolution.

Blogs are traditionally one-way streets, and I’ve never liked that. The real power in having over 100,000 Living Legends from every country in the world is the brilliance and magic you all have to share with each other (and me!).

That’s why we built our Connect With Anyone private community and forum, why we have multiple Facebook groups for creativity and accountability and why my team and I have poured our heart and soul into the Live Your Legend LOCAL movement and the huge updates and new technology coming in the next few weeks. It’s also why everything we’ve built has started from you all asking for it.

Which is the reason I’ve also spent much of the past month redesigning the LYL site – for the first time since launch over 3 years ago – which should go live in the next few weeks! (A huge thanks to Corbett and Chase at Fizzle who are doing the real genius work.)

And it’s why we’ve added this new comment system that, in conjunction with our other projects, should help make the discussion much more two-way.

So that’s why I’m asking you to design the next version of the LYL shirt. You all are incredibly talented and together, you have a lot more fantastic ideas than one person ever could. And because I want you to feel as deeply connected to our movement and revolution as possible. After all, we are family here!

Once our new shirts are designed, we all can go out across the world and photograph ourselves having Living Legend adventures in our new threads – kinda like the pic of me above on a longtail boat headed toward Maya Bay in Thailand or the one below from a fly fishing trip with my dad in Eastern Russia.

And here are a few more in-the-field pics. The first one is during a fly fishing trip with my dad deep in the Kamchatka Peninsula in Eastern Russia – don’t worry, it’s all catch and release (they barely even let you touch the fish out there – with monsters like this I can certainly understand why!)…

And two of our closest friends, who I roped into a little shoot last weekend: Jared (my roommate from Sevilla) and Cheryl (my high school Junior Prom date)…

And because Jared taught me how fun a good flexing pic can be…

Now, inspire us with your comment below!

Oh, and if you like the LYL shirts in these pictures, we only have a few left.

Jackie Ramos Beyer

Jeanne Walker

Yes that quote used to be attributed to Annie Oakley who also said
“Aim at a high mark and you’ll hit it. No, not the first time, nor the second time. Maybe not the third. But keep on aiming and keep on shooting for only practice will make you perfect.

Zinia

Good one. As we get older, it’s hard to find time to create. I started carrying Field Notes with me about 2 years ago and have found that there’s so much I hold inside…until I open that little tiny book and start doodling. Your quote is a great reminder, Mark.

Pam Costa

Michael D

That’s great! I thought of using a variation of the above saying “Never let yourself give up until you have a good day.” which essentially says the same thing. Its like using our mind to trick our mind to do what our mind wants to do.

Cathy Havenga

Astrid Willis-Countee

You actually couldn’t have posted this at a better time Scott. I’m a huge, huge fan of motivational quotes, and am just starting a new side project about it as part of your build a blog challenge. Right now it’s just a twitter account (@getquotivated) but more to come soon!

Final quote:
“Change your thoughts and you can change the world.”
~ Norman Vincent Peale

Kathy Brooks

Sue B

Tanya Suarez

Wow love this one as well! your life is a message, your life is the legend you leave behind. You get one life to be heard and one life to learn and communicate your message to other’s so better make that a good message! 🙂

You should also add the one from your profile / blog about life. I love what you’re doing on your blog. We share a similar path of leaving a career and working for yourself. If you ever want to actually take that picture by a mountain, my family has an awesome cabin in Utah and I would be happy to call in a favor so you’d have a place to stay 🙂

I do love the comfort zone quote. But I was actually referring to “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.” That’s a personal fav of mine, as well.

Where is home for you? Utah offer is open, seriously. They live within short drives of all the major canyons. Feel free to connect offline. My email is just my name @gmail.com (no spaces). I’d love to help you connect some dots across the states if you have some bucket list places in mind.

ellen

Bill Traynor

This won’t exactly fit on a t-shirt, but regardless, it’s one of my favourites. In fact, I’ve framed it and hung it on my wall:

“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education alone will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan Press On, has solved and will always solve the problems of the human race.” ~Calvin Coolidge

Bill Traynor

Sure, everyone may have some sort of talent but I think what Coolidge is meaning is that there are lots of talented people who simply give up before realizing the potential from their talent. Hence the importance of persistence. I can’t tell you how many people I know who “should have” been a pro athlete or something similar but are not simply because they gave up trying at the first bump in the road.

Mike Ludlow

I agree and love Simon’s stuff! I’ve been in situations where I don’t know the optimal route to take. Rather than try one, see how it goes, and adjust if necessary, I’m paralyzed…stuck. The quote is a great reminder that if you have a desired goal with a clarified Why, you might not always know the best path to accomplish it, but if your Why is powerful enough, you’ll find a way to get it done..

I just caught t. Hard Eker interview on EOFire podcast a few days back. Liked him. Haven’t heard of the second mention. He’ll of a title though! Are those the ones you’d recommend!?
I’m almost finished with “The Art of Learning” and it’s ringing alright, but I’ve only located half the bells. Caught me off guard in a great way.

Alexander Smith

Posted at 20:36h, 21 October

i recommend the Eker book as well as this audio file on youtube about manifesting prosperity and wealth – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2lLQLv8GlA&app=desktop – “God, Guns, Grit and Gravy” is written by my friend and is a very funny political satire that just went for sale on amazon. check out a preview there if you’re interested

Alexander thank you! Dig the extra manifesting audio. I’ve been thinking a lot about the whole manifestation/visualization lately, so I am looking forward to the clip. Interesting to say the least. Some of the language leaves me in the fog. But breaking down the principles and redressing the language, it’s been fun and meaningful to dig into.

Chris Lewman

Thanks, Adam. Exactly, less uptight. I treat my birthday like the New Year and set goals that I want to accomplish in the next 365 days. So 34 started with a “Let’s Do This” rock cast into Puget Sound 🙂 You should try it! https://instagram.com/p/rLtHAKlipw/

Claire

Posted at 15:50h, 22 October

love this Chris – I’m new here and I just want to immerse myself as I set up my movement

I’m new here, too. I’d love to hear more about your movement. I see you’re from NZ — one of my favorite places in the world. I spent part of my undergrad doing a tour through the South Pacific. Beautiful.

Claire

Posted at 12:14h, 24 October

Hi Chris, love how involved you are, lots of comments 🙂 I am originally Zimbabwean, been 14 years in NZ and love it! we are a creative communications agency targeting sustainable business, branching out into other heartfelt endeavours such as building a sustainable village/lodge where people can come and retreat and learn about sustainable living etc. can’t wait to share the name once we have trademarked. What is your journey?

Sandshark

Posted at 10:13h, 26 October

Hi Claire… I am South African hoping to move to NZ in a couple of years. Love what you are thinking of doing… Was going to set up something here along a similar thread but hard now knowing we are leaving!! Good luck and I will keep an eye out for your business… Where are you based?

Claire

Posted at 12:56h, 26 October

Thanks for the message sandshark, glad to hear of someone else thinking along those lines… I am in Auckland so when you get here look me up!

Hi Claire – your business sounds amazing. Keep us informed on how things are going! My journey — I’m passionate about helping other people tell their story. Sometimes that takes on the form of marketing, branding, design or strategy. I believe in Simon Sinek’s philosophy of helping the person next to you. Before my 35th birthday next August, my goal is to help at least 100 people.

Claire

Posted at 13:18h, 27 October

Hi Chris – Awesome – similar to what we do, we are really into story telling through video, we have a talented video duo we work with. Do you collaborate on team, or are you a sole warrior? Love that goal, focussing on helping and giving really turned my life around from the depths of depression. The future is bright 🙂

Sole warrior mostly but collaborate with teams. Working on building a business around it as well with a very similar focus. Would love to hear more about your project when it’s up and running. Maybe someday I’ll meet you on your side of the globe 🙂

Makes me feel the gift that kindness is for both those giving it and those who receiving it.

It is a magnet for drawing out the best in people. And it seems to be fail-safe. Even those times when I feel incapable of kindness, and I find myself pretending to be kind, before long I am slipping into it.

Olivia Chung

Jeanne Walker

Reminds me of Scottish mountaineer WH Murray “Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness… the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favour all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way. I learned a deep respect for one of Goethe’s couplets:
‘Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it.Boldness has genius, power and magic in it!'”

Olivia Chung

Natalie Ann Neal

SHORTER QUOTE: “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle.”

LONGER QUOTE: “Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith. I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.”

-Steve Jobs, 2005 Stanford Commencement Speech

Super long, I know, but this whole speech was so incredibly inspirational to me.

Joanna

Jeanne Walker

Joanna I love your phrase. Here’s some slight editing to improve the flow. The phrase may look at little saucy now. This may or may not be a good thing!
“Leading with passion
Yields
Lasting satisfaction”

Kier

Kier

I found this on a sticker when I was a teenager and I thought it was really beautiful message about being strong and not giving up.
“Just when the caterpillar thought its world was over, it became a butterfly” -Proverb

Awestruck Curiosity

Jo Holecek

“Act now. Think Later”
Have reduced this quote from a great saying that can be relevant to much more than just running: “If you went running when you first started thinking about it, you’d be back right now”

Jason Raasch

Hikari Azami EverStar

🙂 *first time doing this haha first time seeing this and I’m interested :)*
“It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all – in which case, you fail by default.”

“It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.”

“We’re all human, aren’t we? Every human life is worth the same, and worth saving.”

Stephanie

Stephanie

atauldilse

“What you Love to do, but not good At”
Remember Gandhi before leaving your interest, and that’s most probably because, you found someone better than you and people not paying much attention to your work, although you love doing it most. Gandhi had said: first they will ignore you, then laugh at you, then fight with you and then you win.
So most probably you are into the first phase, ignored phase. Come out of it, since it’s truly the most difficult phase to come out from.

atauldilse

“What you Love to do, but not good At?”
Remember Gandhi before leaving your interest, and that’s most probably because, you found someone better than you and people not paying much attention to your work, although you love doing it most. Gandhi had said: first they will ignore you, then laugh at you, then fight with you and then you win.
So most probably you are into the first phase, ignored phase. Come out of it, since it’s truly the most difficult phase to come out from.

Geoffrey De Prins

I love how this is both a call for action that inspires to go out and do/create something that you feel you have to.
And at the same time reminds us to be content and grateful for what you already have.

Sue B

Adventure Hermit

Adventure Hermit

I know it is longer – but I love this one – there are so many great ones on here already that I have voted for – but I wanted this one too – I say it to my my kids all the time – and used to say it to my customer service team – It personally inspires me to keep going – It reminds me why I do things – it is not for glory – but simply because it is right. Love being able to share it with everyone here. I think CS Lewis gets credit for its origin.

Adventure Hermit

With tears in my eyes – I just watched the movie posted by Yashi Srivastava below – her contribution I AM THAT CHANGE – is fantastic – Take a moment to watch the video she shared and UP Vote her suggestion if you agree that is AWESOME!!!

Alina Renee

BALoeb

Another of my favorite Lewis and Clark phrases (can you tell I am a fan of these guys?). The most common phrase in all their journals covering 3 years was this one: “We proceeded on”. I think it captures perfectly their perseverance and dedication to task. With each new challenge they faced, they “proceeded on”. Turning back was just not an option they considered.

Tanya Suarez

Sean

“It’s a terrible thing, I think, in life to wait until you’re ready. I have this feeling now that actually no one is ever ready to do anything. There is almost no such thing as ready. There is only now. And you may as well do it now. Generally speaking, now is as good a time as any.”
– Hugh Laurie